From Wrongful Arrest to Anti-Prison Activist: Bryonn Bain’s Road to ‘Lyrics From Lockdown’
From Wrongful Arrest to Anti-Prison Activist: Bryonn Bain’s Road to ‘Lyrics From Lockdown’ courtesy of / Bryonn Bain
Content warning: This article contains use of the N-word.
Monday, November 25. Dawn. Bryonn Bain is one of several inmates chained together to board a bus to Rikers Island. Once on the bus, the men, rolling 12-deep, are told that they will be heading to a new location, Vernon C. Bain Correctional facility.
“A prison boat named after the white folks who owned my ancestors. Damn,” Bain says to himself. Arriving at the facility, he is ushered into a Manhattan criminal courthouse. There he meets with his court-appointed attorney. Having been detained for three days and two nights in a cell with a feces-clogged toilet, Bain is now being arraigned. Despite his resilience, he is weary and convinced that he will be spending yet another night in lockdown.
We hosted lunch Easter Sunday at our home a couple of weeks ago. It wasn t anything elaborate â roasted turkey breast, sliced ham, scalloped potatoes, asparagus, deviled eggs and rolls.
My mother-in-law provided the asparagus â it was topped with sliced pimientos and lemon slices and cooked to perfection. My new daughter-in-law made a delicious peanut butter and chocolate pie for dessert.
Usually we don t eat this meal until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, but it was also the final day of the Masters golf tournament, and we wanted to be done in time to catch live coverage on TV.
Because we planned to serve at noon, we didn t want to eat a big breakfast. So the day before, I made a batch of sausage balls, figuring we d snack on those Sunday morning and share them with guests then they arrived.